USA > Missouri > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Missouri > Part 27
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fleeces shorn, number __ 214
Value of wool and mohair produced $26,563
Domestic Animals Sold or Slaughtered :
Calves sold or slaugh- tered. number 2,777
Other cattle sold or slaughtered, number __ 18,660
Horses, mules, asses and burros sold, number __ 5,902
Swine sold or slaugh- tered, number 89.852
Sheep and goats sold or slaughtered. number. 12,552
Receipts from sale of ani- mals $2.459.619
Value of animals slaugh-
tered
$ 216,699
356
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
Exports of agricultural products from the county have steadily increased in value. But a much larger proportion of such shipments are in live stock now and much less in grain than formerly. (The live- stock business is such that frequently grain for feed is shipped into the county. ) The following are the shipments for the year 1917 through the Warrensburg railway station alone, as compiled by T. J. Bunn, cashier Missouri Pacific Railway Company freight office, in a report to the United States Government :
From January 1, 1917, to December 31, 1917, 119 cars of cattle, the total weight of which was 2,861.000 pounds, were shipped; 121 cars of horses and mules, weight 2,891,000 pounds; 63 cars of hogs, weight 1,742,000 pounds; 12 cars of sheep, 610,000 pounds; 26 cars of walnut logs, total weight 1,300,000 pounds; 48 cars of junk, weight 2,880,000 pounds: 3 cars of eggs, equaling 1,218 cases or 64,554 pounds; one car of wool, weight 36,000 pounds; 26 cars of hay, aggregating 572,000 pounds ; 32 cars of flour, or 1,881,600 pounds; 12 cars of corn, 480,000 pounds, and 3 cars of dressed poultry, 66,000 pounds.
These shipments did not include those in less than carload lots. Horticulture .- (By Prof. C. H. Dutcher.)
One of the earliest agricultural products of this county was the Huntsman's Favorite apple. This is a standard variety of today. The following interesting account of its origin was given by Judge Harvey Harrison to Mr. W. E. Crissey, in 1889:
"About 1831-32 or '33, John Huntsman entered eighty acres of land west of where Fayetteville now is in this county. He and George McMahan and Joseph Hobson went to John Ingram's place about ten miles north of Lexington and bought each of them one hundred seed- ling apple trees and set them out on their farms. In John Huntsman's, farm or orchard, there was the Huntsman's Favorite. This was the tree at the north end of the orchard near the barn.
"Ingram's nursery was in a pawpaw patch, or thicket, and my theory is that this particular young tree grew on the root of a pawpaw tree and mixed and gave it the choice flavor of the Huntsman's Favorite apple."
Samuel Workman, of Washington township, had an early orchard. As late as 1840, the young trees were destroyed by the deer. Another early orchard was put out by the father of A. H. Gilkeson in 1839. This was located just west of Warrensburg. By 1840 he had a good neigh-
1
357
HISTORY OF JOIINSON COUNTY
borhood orchard, using only apple sprouts cut from the roots of the trees.
The earliest commercial orchard in the county was that of Mr. Mock, who is shown by the records to have had an orchard here in 1850. This and the Park orchard in Clay county were the earliest two in western Missouri. From them'and their successors went wagon loads of young trees to all eastern Kansas and Arkansas.
Mr. Gilkeson, Sr., got young trees from Mock and set them out in 1855, and part of these trees were in good condition as late as 1894.
A. H. Gilkeson set out his first orchard just at the east edge of War- rensburg, in 1873, beginning with ten acres, and increasing to seventy- three acres.
Some of the early varieties of apples were: Maiden Blush, Missouri Pippin, Limber Twig. Willow Twig, June Apple, Geniton, Large Roman- ite, Rambo, Pekin, Russet, and the Greening. The Ben Davis came in later but since then has always remained a leading variety on account of its looks and keeping qualities. (This apple has had twenty-three different names in different states before the present name was fixed.)
Early orchard yields were uniformly greater. This was due to the absence of orchard enemies. With the increase of all fruits has come an increase in all of its enemies, until now spraying is absolutely neces- sary.
The chief essentials of successful production today are continuous cultivation, insect fighting, and thinning. Successful marketing has not yet been solved.
The chief obstacle in this county to successful growing is change- able weather. (See chapter on climate .- Editor.)
The fruits best adapted to this county are apples and cherries. The best paying varieties are the Ben Davis, Gano, York, Imperial. and Jona- than apples, and Richmond cherry. There is no strictly commercial orchard in the county. There are many good home orchards, and the product of these is increasing. Spraying and insect control has come into the county generally only in the last year through the efforts of County Agent Gougler. The results are most apparent and from now on yields will be much better.
CHAPTER XXXV .-- LIVE STOCK.
DEVELOPMENT OF LIVE STOCK INTERESTS-REGISTERED LIVE STOCK BREED- ERS' ASSOCIATION-NUMBER OF BREEDERS AND POULTRYMEN-MEMBER- SHIP AND OFFICERS OF ASSOCIATION-SHORTHORNS-HEREFORDS-PO- LAND CHINAS-BREEDING IN JOHNSON COUNTY-MULES-JACKS.
The live stock interests of the county have become very large and also every year more varied. Their condition is best shown by the Live Stock Breeders' Association and an account of this follows. The largest interests in importance and distinction are Shorthorn and Hereford cattle, Poland China hogs and mules and jacks and special short articles on these follow. Horses are numerous and valuable and include some fine saddle and draft animals, but they are not specially distinctive, as compared to other communities and periods.
Registered Live Stock Breeders' Association.
Was organized in August, 1916, by F. A. Gougler, county agent, with 86 charter members. The first meeting was at the county agent's office and the first officers were: President, George L. Russell; vice- president, Erskine McClean; secretary-treasurer, F. A. Gougler.
The chief objects are the extension of good live stock breeding and the marketing to best advantage of the stock of the members. Each member's stock for sale is listed with the secretary and car lots are thus readily made up. Five carloads of cattle have so far been shipped through the work of the association. A complete directory and also large posters with names and addresses of all breeders are distributed throughout the community and result in many local sales. The associa- tion directory lists the following number of breeders of stock and poultry :
Cattle.
Angus
5
Shorthorn
31
Dairy (all Jersey)
6
Hereford
22
Red Polled
1
1
1
1
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
Hogs.
Poland China 17
Duroc 5
Hampshire 2
O. I. C. 2
Berkshire
2
R. C. Rhode Island Reds 1
Jacks.
Jacks
2
Sheep.
Shropshire 2
Hampshire 1
Cotswold 1
Horses.
Percheron 2
Denmark 1
Saddle and combination 1
Light
1
Ducks.
Pekin 1
Chickens.
Barred Plymouth Rocks 8
Geese.
Buff Plymouth Rocks
1
White Chinese
1
The present membership of the association is 82. The present officers (for 1918) are: President, F. A. McWethy, Holden ; vice-presi- dent. Erskine R. McClean, Warrensburg; secretary, F. A. Gougler, Warrensburg: treasurer. A. Lee Smizer, Warrensburg.
Directors.
Herefords.
Dairy Cattle.
W. B. Wallace
Holden
William Sisk
Kingsville
D. E. Powell Windsor M. L. Golladay Holden
Aberdeen Angus. Duroc Jersey Hogs.
C. T. Burris
Centerview
George Russell
Chilhowee
J. B. Wampler Knob Noster N. J. Bush Warrensburg
Shorthorns. Poland China Hogs.
T. E. Rice Pittsville G. M. Curnutt Montserrat
Elmer Atkins Warrensburg J. H. Fitzgerel Kingsville
White Plymouth Rocks 1
S. C. White Leghorns 3
R. C. White Leghorns 1
S. C. Brown Leghorns 2
S. C. Rhode Island Reds 3
Buff Orpingtons 4
White Orpingtons 2
White Wyandottes 2
Golden Wyandottes 1
Silver Laced Wyandottes 1
Black Langshans 2
Turkeys.
Bronze 3
White Holland 1
Bourled Red 1
360
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
Sheep.
Chris. Funk
Holden
Ernest Lee
Columbus
Light Horses.
IV. C. Shepherd Chilhowee
A. Lee Smeiser
Warrensburg
Draft Horses.
Theo. Funk Warrensburg
Poultry. J. N. Hutchinson Kingsville Mrs. John Triminger Holden
Jacks.
Dr. T. L. Bradley
Warrensburg
James Shoemaker Chilhowee J. C. Wilkinson Bates City
Shorthorn Cattle.
The largest number of cattle in Johnson county of any one kind are Shorthorns. The registered breeders listed for 1918 in the Breeders' Association's directory number thirty-one. Three of these keep the Polled Durhams. Several owners keep fifty head or more of registered animals. The oldest herd is probably the McClean herd.
In 1868 William McClean, father of Erskine McClean, brought to Johnson county "Cherokee," a red bull, registered, number 6536, and "Highland Belle," a pure-bred red cow and became one of the first successful breeders in the county. From 1868 until his death in 1902, he also bought other animals. He sold all his stock at private sale, and though in the early seventies prices were very low, he kept up his herd. To-day his son, Erskine McClean, and son-in-law, J. B. Elliott, have succeeded him.
L. L. Gregg and F. A. McWethy each have considerable herds. Mr. Gregg in 1888 began and has continued ever since with Scotch Cruikshank bulls. He first kept reds and now has roans. He has had as many as ninety head, and now has forty to fifty.
F. A. McWethy, of Holden, advertises fifty head in his herd with representatives of "Orange Blossom" and other good families and headed by a son of "Choice of All." Others may have even larger herds, but these illustrate the condition and development of the Shorthorn cattle in the county to-day. Sale prices average about $75 to $300 and have kept steady for many years.
The Shorthorn breeders are satisfied they have the best all-around beef and milk animals adapted to more farms and farmers than any other breed.
361
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
Herefords. (By W. B. Wallace, Holden, Missouri.)
The Herefords here in Johnson county are raised and bred by cattle men-men who have been in the cattle business from their youth to the present time and who have therefore had time to satisfy them- selves as to what in their judgment was the best beef cattle to breed.
The number of registered Herefords in Johnson county is about 1,500 head. Among the more extensive breeders are W. B. Wallace, Millard Hobbs, R. L. Whitsett, and J. E. Terrell, of Holden, Missouri., Levi McMurphy of Warrensburg, and the Lee Brothers, of Columbus.
Originally developed to meet the demand for a medium for con- verting the luxuriant grasses and abundance of forage of the west of England into high class beef, the Hereford is recognized today, as it was a century ago as the premier grazing animal, attaining a higher finish and producing a better quality of beef, on grass alone, than any other beef animal.
Seventy-five per cent. of the top sales made at the market centers the past year have been cattle showing a preponderance of Hereford blood. This applies to drylot baby beeves, grainfed medium and heavy beeves and grass beeves.
The demand for bulls from the great cattle-growing sections of the Northwest, West and Southwest, where registered Hereford bulls are used on most of the herds affords a ready market for the surplus of the Hereford breeding herds in this community. The demand for breeding females is in excess of the supply.
Several car loads of registered Herefords have been shipped from Johnson county to Kansas, Nebraska, Mississippi, and Texas and sev- eral smaller shipments to other states. Some cars averaged as high as $400.00 per head, while some individual animals have been sold for much higher prices.
Poland China Hogs; Origin in Johnson County. (By J. A. Slifer.)
I think I brought the first to the county in September, 1867, from Champaign county, Ohio. They were known as the "Magee" hog, the "Polands," the "Big China" and other names and they were white and black spotted, white predominating with occasionally one of a sandy
362
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
complexion. Later when the "Ohio," the first Poland China record, was founded they adopted the name "Poland China" and color black with white points as preferable. A part of those I brought were for John Rowland, of Chilhowee township. We sold some of the offspring for breeders but raised them principally for the market as many of the old settlers declared they would not give fifteen dollars for any pig they ever saw and this when our currency was inflated.
Breeding in Johnson County. (By R. S. Fisher.)
Mr. Fisher is one of the largest and most successful breeders of these hogs in the county, and one of the best known in the state.
Henry Russell, one of Johnson county's pioneers, commenced breeding the Poland China northwest of Warrensburg. At that time there were but few farmers in the country that knew anything about pure-breds. As soon as people ascertained the great improvement the pure-breds made over the scrubs, they secured from Henry a few of his pigs and new herds started throughout the county. The most prominent were those of W. P. Gibson and W. W. Wallace, Kingsville; D. T. Boisseau, of Elm : C. T. Meyers, of Centerview ; and R. S. Fisher, of Holden. The only survivor of the group that is still breeding the Poland China is R. S. Fisher, now of Denton, Missouri.
The Poland China has become so popular that today nearly every school district in Johnson county has a breeder of pure-breds. This hog is the most economical machine for converting the products of the farm into the highest quality of human food. While the highest possible development of the Poland China may not have been, and probably has not been reached, whatever further improvement is made must be made with a view to increasing its efficiency as the great gen- eral purpose utility hog.
In 1915, 1916 and 1917. an inquiry sent out to over a hundred breeders showed that the total average on one hundred Poland China sows was nine and three-quarters farrows to the litter.
While Johnson county can only boast of a very few $1,000 hogs, yet they do exist in our county at the present time.
Johnson county is especially adapted to the raising of the Poland China, on account of it being a great clover county and hogs thrive as well on red clover, or better, than any other kind of grass.
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363
HISTORY OF JOIINSON COUNTY
Mules and Jacks.
The jack and mule business in Johnson county is one of its best known specialties in agriculture or live stock. For many years back, the county has had some good jacks, and the production of mules has been steadily increasing. About twenty to twenty-five years ago, spe- cial attention began to be paid to these two lines.
Mules .- John T. Cheatham, Alex. McElvaine, John W. Stone and A. J. Redford were the chief mule buyers at this time. They shipped chiefly to the South, with some to the East. Prices were forty dollars to seventy-five dollars for small cotton mules, and from seventy-five dol- lars to one hundred thirty-five dollars for sugar mules. An extra good span sold by Mr. McElvaine brought three hundred dollars. There were very few jacks in the county then and averaged fifteen to thirty miles apart.
The great impetus to the mule business was the Boer War. Mule men say that the demand for mules in this war at least doubled the price in this county. From that time on prices kept up or slowly increased until the present world war, when they increased since 1914 from twenty-five dollars to fifty dollars a head. Cotton mules now sell for one hundred dollars to three hundred dollars. They have so much improved in quality that they now are in the same class with sugar mules, and the top ones bring the same prices.
Aside from the production of mules in Johnson county, it has devel- oped remarkably as a mule market. Our buyers now buy in and ship from as far as southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma and over six to eight counties in Missouri. It is said that over ten times as many mules are handled here as were twenty years ago. Seven firms make it their main business and buy all the time.
In prize mules, Johnson county has an unusual record. At the World's Fair at St. Louis in 1904, Ed Kendrick. of Knob Noster, with two mules took a number of prizes, while Larkin H. Blackburn and Walter L. Jones showed fifteen mules and took forty-five prizes, including twelve first and fourteen second prizes, amounting to $3.230 cash, and took as many prizes on mules as all the other contestants put together. (They showed fifteen mules, including two in every class.)
The highest known price paid for a span of mules was $900 for a pair of Blackburn & Jones show mules. The highest price paid for
364
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
a span of regular work mules was $775 for a pair of cotton mules bought March 21, 1918, by W. L. Jones and shipped to Atlanta, Georgia.
Jacks .- From the time of the first settlers in Johnson county, there have always been jacks in the county. Until comparatively recently, however, the number was very small, and averaged, it is said, fifteen to thirty miles apart.
About 1900, with the development of the mule business came the beginning of what is now one of Johnson county's best businesses. There are to-day good jacks all over the county, and one firm, Bradley Brothers, have a state and national reputation, keep on hand an aver- age of forty jacks and fifty jennets and advertise that "we have more big black registered jacks and jennets than any firm in the United States we know of."
The markets for the jacks that are shipped from here are chiefly in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, and about one hundred are shipped out yearly. The prices are high for the good ones. Bradley Brothers' sale of March 4, 1918 disposed of twenty-four jacks for an average of $651 a head. The highest priced jack ever sold in the county was at this sale for $1,660, and the highest price for a yearling was $1.250 at the same sale.
The demand is increasing for size with quality. A good jack four- teen and one-half hands high will bring $400, fifteen hands $800, and fifteen and one-half hands $1,000 to $1,200, if all of the same quality.
CHAPTER XXXVI .- SOILS.
GENERAL GEOGRAPHY -CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS -AREAS OF DIFFERENT SOILS-SUMMIT SILT LOAM-SUMMIT SILTY CLAY LOAM-PETTIS SERIES- PETTIS SILT LOAM-CRAWFORD SERIES-CRAWFORD SILT LOAM-CRAW- FORD STONY LOAM - BOONE SERIES - BOONE SILT LOAM - BOONE FINE SANDY LOAM-BOONE GRAVELLY LOAM-BATES SERIES-BATES SILT LOAM -OSWEGO SILT LOAM-CHEROKEE SILT LOAM-OSAGE SERIES-OSAGE SILT -LOAM-OSAGE SILTY CLAY LOAM-OSAGE CLAY-CHARITON SILT LOAM- ROBERTSVILLE SILT 10AM.
General Geography .- Johnson county is situated in the residual prairie section of the Great Plains region. The county is roughly rectangular in outline and has a length from east to west of 33 miles and a width from north to south of 25 miles. Its area is 831 square miles, or 531,840 acres.
Johnson county comprises two physiographic divisions-the upland and the lowland. The upland comprises about nine-tenths of the area of the county. Topographically, it is rolling rather than level or undu- lating, although areas of considerable extent are comparatively level.
A central belt and the southeastern and southwestern parts of the county are somewhat smoother than the remainder. The central belt includes the immediate valley of Blackwater river and a lowland belt adjacent to it, especially the country lying northeast of Warrensburg. The lowland belt is developed on a bed of soft shales lying beneath a series of more resistant limestones which form the adjoining higher country to the south, the limestone outcropping along the southern border of the lowland at the top of a low but well-defined escarpment. The southwestern smooth area is likewise developed on a bed of soft shales, which is higher than that forming the central belt. It lies in front of an escarpment which barely enters the western part of the county, and which constitutes the eastern boundary of a high plateau in Jackson and Cass counties. The smooth area in the southeastern part of the county extends over a series of limestone beds. It is a low plateau, over somewhat resistant limestone, which has not yet been dissected.
366
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
The soils of Johnson county are classed in two general groups, upland soils and lowland soils.
The upland soils are of residual origin and are derived from the immediately underlying rocks, which belong to the Pennsylvania divi- sion of the Carboniferous and consist of alternating strata of lime- stone, shale, and sandstone. Geologically the county is made up of the Cherokee shales and sandstones, the Henrietta limestones and shales, the Pleasanton shales, the Bethany Falls limestone. and the Warrens- burg sandstone.
The Cherokee shale lies in the extreme southeastern part of the county and in the Blackwater lowland belt and consists chiefly of shale and sandstone. The shale of this formation gives rise to the Oswego and Cherokee soils.
The Henrietta limestone occurs in the southeastern part of the county west of the area of Cherokee shale. It forms conspicuous ledges in that vicinity. The limestone gives rise to the Crawford soils.
The Pleasanton shale is the surface formation in the western part of the county. The formation consists of about 175 feet of shale and sandstone, with one or two thin beds of limestone. The shale gives rise to the Summit soils. The Pettis silt loam is derived partly from the interbedded limestone and shale of this formation.
The Bethany Falls limestone occurs in the northwestern part of the county, forming a distinct but ragged escarpment along the streams. It gives rise to the Crawford and Pettis soils, the former being derived exclusively from limestone, while the latter contains considerable material derived from shale.
Sixteen soil types, representing 10 series, are mapped in Johnson county. The residual or upland soils comprise about 85 per cent. of the total area of the county and include the Summit, Pettis, Crawford, Boone, Bates, Oswego, and Cherokee series. The soil material in some places has a depth of 30 feet or more, the greatest thickness occurring where the softer shales underlie the surface. The Summit, Oswego, and Cherokee soils are residnal largely from shale, which is calcareous in case of much of the Summit; the Crawford and Pettis soils are residual from limestone, with some shale material in the case of the Pettis: the Boone soils are residual from sandstone and shale, and the Bates soils from shale and interbedded sandstone and limestone.
The lowland or alluvial soils are grouped into three series, the
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
367
Osage (first-bottom) soils and the Chariton and Robertsville (second- bottom or terrace) soils. In subsequent chapters the different soil types are described in detail.
The following table gives the names and the actual and relative extent of the various soil types mapped in Johnson county :
Areas of Different Soils.
Soils.
Acres.
Per cent.
Summit silt loam
146.240
27.5
Boone silt loam
142,848
26.9
Osage silt loam
65,088
12.2
Bates silt loam
58,816
11.1
Oswego silt loam
35,328
6.6
Pettis silt loam
29,312
5.5
Crawford silt loam
23.680
4.4
Boone fine sandy loam
9,408
1.8
Chariton silt loam
5,312
1.0
Osage silty clay loam
4,672
0.9
Summit silty clay loam
3,648
.7
Cherokee silt loam
1,920
.4
Osage clay
1,792
.3
Robertsville silt loam
1,728
.3
Boone gravelly loam
1,152
.2
Crawford stony loam
896
.2
Total
531.840
1
1
1
1
I
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
1
Following are brief descriptions of Summit series:
These soils are residual in origin and are derived from shales and limestones. The drainage is good and the topography smooth to undu- lating. In Johnson county two types of this series are recognized, the silt loam and the silty clay loam.
Summit Silt Loam .- The surface soil of the Summit silt loam, where typically developed. consists of a black silt loam to a depth of 15 inches, below which it grades into a silty clay loam of a somewhat lighter color. The subsoil, beginning at a depth of 24 to 26 inches, is a heavy clay of dark-drab color. The line of demarcation between the surface and subsurface soil is rather indistinct, but the gradation into the clay sub- soil is usually sharp.
368
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
To the south of Holden a heavy to impervious subsoil is encoun- tered in this type below about 25 inches.
Small eroded areas of the Summit silt loam occur in a few places in the northwestern part of the county. They are locally spoken of as "deer licks," and support little or no vegetation.
This is the most important and most extensively developed soil type in the county, covering an area of 228.5 square miles. It occurs mainly in the vicinity of Kingsville and in the northern half of the county.
In general the Summit silt loam occupies the smoother areas of the county. It occurs on the tops of ridges and on lower level stretches surrounded by escarpments of limestone outcrop. It is generally suffi- ciently rolling to have good surface drainage, although the character of the subsoil does not permit a maximum absorption of water. It is locally referred to as "black limestone land," probably because of the frequent outcrops of thin limestone beds along streams.
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